Microbiological analysis based on Petri dishes involves the seeding of a small sample within a culture medium, transfer of the Petri dish to an incubator, and a daily or tri-weekly manual inspection conducted by a bacteriologist to determine growth. Growth is generally confirmed visually as macroscopic colonies appear on the culture medium surface. This approach is laborious, necessitating technical expertise while the sample is susceptible to a relatively high risk of contamination.
Recently, sealed culture bottles which contain a culture medium including a chosen atmospheric environment and a growth indicator have been used to simplify the detection of bacterial growth. The growth indicator instantly detects biological activity such as the generation of carbon dioxide without having to wait for the appearance of macroscopic colonies. Also, antibiotic absorbing resins can be added to the culture medium to allow for the detection of bacterial growth even during antibiotic treatment. A liquid sample is injected into the culture bottle by means of a syringe without need of substantial expertise and with only a minimal risk of contamination and the culture bottle is then subjected to incubation. After being applied with a bar code, each culture bottle may be automatically sent every couple of hours to a growth analysis station by a robotic system.
Despite the widespread acceptance of the use of a culture bottle for microbiological analysis, several medical subspecialties such as ophthalmology, dermatology, otolaryngology, gynecology and surgery cannot benefit from microbiological analysis based on a culture bottle for detecting bacterial growth. With respect to these subspecialties, a culture is taken from a bodily surface, rather than from a fluid sample, and therefore cannot be readily transferred to the culture bottle without opening the seal, causing a change in the internal air pressure and gas content within the container and risking contamination.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for transferring non-liquid bodily extracts to a culture bottle for microbiological analysis without need of opening the seal and without risking contamination of the extract.
It is an additional object of the present invention to increase the modernization of microbiological analysis by enabling the transfer of non-liquid bodily extracts to a culture bottle.
It is yet an additional object of the present invention to provide an apparatus and method for transferring non-liquid bodily extracts to a culture bottle without changing the internal air pressure and composition within the container.
Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent as the description proceeds.